Heat insulating panel



Mar h 2, 19 3- D. D. GRASSICK HEAT INSULATING PANEL Filed Nov. 15, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

RS5 wk 'IONAIJ I). GR BY ATTORNEY.

walls requires about 15 hours for a Patented Mar. 2, 1943 HEAT INSULATING PANEL Donald D. Grassick, Chicago; 111., assiznor to Altol Insulation Company, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Application November 15, 1939, Serial No.

7 Claims. (Cl. 154-45) cer- The panel is sulating material and by a distortable frame which houses the insulating material.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial Number 157,844 filed August 7, 19 7.

The panel of this invention will be described with tured under the car.

An installation of this type in vertical crew of 4 men for each car. per car.

That is, a total of man hours other words, a total of 1 man hours as compared with the above mentioned 60 man hours for the prior tive reduction in labor of 97 A The panels of my invention are so shaped and to the enclosing members.

The heat insulating panel of my invention normally sulating materia. The metallic heat reflective facing sheet has sufiicient excess material to permit flexing without tearing;

2 rial may be composed of mass insulation covered by heat reflective metallic sheet material such The mass insulation may be either in one body or may be divided up into several layers or blankets of the material and where desired each layer or blanket enclosed in a metallic foil envelope or cover. The mass insulating material may be one or a combination of the various known forms of this material such as hair-felt, glass wool, mineral wool, rock wool, cotton, etc.

In accordance with one commercially advantageous embodiment the heat insulating panel of this invention comprises generally a light weight frame made of laminated wood or fiber board and divided into sections by several cross spacer strips, and a plurality of spaced sheets of crumpled thin metal foil, or other suitable thin sheet material, located within the frame and extending the approximate length and width thereof. The air spaces jacent metal foil sheets serve as barriers to the transfer of heat by convection and conduction, and the sheets themselves reflect back most of the incident radiant heat waves. The entire assembly of frames and foil sheets is advantageously completely enveloped with a sheet of strong paper and an outer jacket made of metal foil, the principal purpose'of which is to reflect back towards its source the main portion of the radiant heat incident thereon, emanating from the car structure or from the air inside or outside the car. It also serves to prevent water vapor from entering the panel. The foil jacket is preferably fastened to the paper by adhesive between the ad-' to provide a combination foil and paper covering sheet.

Where installation and operation conditions permit the panel need not be covered with the protective paper mentioned above, and in some instances the outer metal foil cover may be eliminated where the insulating material within the panel has a heat reflective facing sheet. If

an outer heat reflective cover is desired this may he used in the form of the above mentioned combined paper and foil or a heavy metal foil substantially thicker and more durable than the metal foil used within the frame. Whatever type of insulation is used in my panel I prefer to have both front and back faces of the panel provided with a metallic heat reflective sheet which will resist moisture penetration and will reflect heat rays incident thereto. Also, I prefer the wall or floor or to be insulated, to

in installing the panels in ceiling structure of the car so arrange the panel between the inner and outer sheathings that dead air spaces will be provided between each face of the panel and the adjacent sheathing.

These dead air spaces .in combination with the entire, heat reflective cover or faces of the panel produce marked improvements in the heat insulating efficiency of the panel. By this arrangement equivalent insulative effect may be obtained in a given space with 1 /2 inches less thickness of insulation mass than with arrangements in which the mass insulating material fills the entire space between the sheathings. l

Thenovel features of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to construction-ofthe' panel and its use will be clearly understood: from the following detailed descripand furring strips are drawing tion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one form of the completed panel, partly broken away to show the sheets of covering materials and the inner metal foil sheets;

Fig. 2 is a side view of this panel partly broken away to show the several laminations and covering sheets;

Fig. 3 is a lon along line 8-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a fragment of the thin metal foil sheets used in this panel;

Fig, 6 is a fragmentary perspective, view showing the connection between side and end members of the panel;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modified form of panel employing a single body of mass insulation covered with a metallic facing sheet;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along lines 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is another modified form of panel in which the insulation material extends between the wood laminations at the edges of the frame to provide a self gasketing or cushioning effect, provided along the sides of the frame to act as spacers for the panel when installed in a wall structure;

Fig. 10 is another modified form of panel in which the insulation material comprises blankets of mass insulation each enclosed in a metallic covering sheet; and a Fig. 11 is a, sectional view showing the adaptation of my panel to a. wall,structu.re with air spaces between each face of the panel and the opposing wall.

Referring now to the several figures in the and at first to the form of panel shown in Figs. 1 'to 6 inclusive, it will be seen that this panel comprises a laminated frame 10 having several laminations H, l2 and I3 of wood or fiber board. Any number of these laminations may be used, or a single board frame may be employed. The frame Ill is divided into sections of the desired size by spacer strips l4 located transversely of the frame. may likewise consist of any desired number of laminations such as for example the three laminations l4, l5 and I6, shown in Fig. 3. The frame'lil has end portions made up of laminations l1, l8 and I9. Side frame laminations H, l2 and I3 are attached to end frame laminations l1, l8 and i9 by interlapping as showndn Fig. 6. The several laminations used in the ends and in the spacer strips of this panel are held together by nail fasteners 20 which extend through holes in the laminations and have their ends bent back as shown at 2| to form a resilient, yet firm type of connection. The small metal or vulcanized fiber strips 22 are provided as connecting means for the spacer strips and frame members and as washers for the nail fasteners 20. This type of flexible connection between the frame members permits the frame to distort and thereby relieve stresses caused by movements of the railroad car.

The side and end surfaces of the entire frame ID are preferably covered with a punched felt gasket 23 which enables the panel to be firmly installed in the car frame. This gasket is compressible and expansible within certain limits such that if the panel is constructed of a width and length slightly less than the space in which itudinal sectional view taken These spacer strips it is to be installed, the gaskets will expand to fill this space. Also, they will compensate for any normal variation or unevenness in the dimensions of the car frame surrounding the panel, whereby a completely tight insulated Joint be-- tween the edges of the panel and the framing of the car is obtained. The compressible feature of the gasket permits normal movement, sway or torque in the framing members of the car without any harmful compression of the fiber board panel frame. This frame itself is also flexible and compressible to a certain extent so that it may be forced into spaces in which rivet heads or other projections may protrude, without the necessity of cutting or fitting of the panel as would normally be required with the usual rigid type of insulation device.

Located within the'panel frame l and extending the approximate length and width of the frame, are a number of heat reflective thin sheets shown at 26 in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. These sheets may advantageously be made of thin metal foil, such as aluminum foil. They may have a smooth fiat surface but it is preferred that they be crumpled so that any contact between the several sheets is only point contact. This is illustrated at 25 in Fig. 4. This arrangement effects negligible conduction of heat by metal contact between I the several sheets. An important feature of this arrangement of crumpled sheets is that they are properly spaced to provide heat insulating air spaces between adjacent sheets as shown at 26 in Fig. 4. These air spaces will provide resistance to the flow of heat from one metal sheet 2 3 to the adjacent sheet. The bright reflective surfaces of the metal sheets it! serve to reflect back toward its source practically all of the radiant heat waves incident upon these surfaces.

The several metal foil sheets 24 are held in place in the panel by means of the laminated end portions ll, 58 and i9, laminated spacer strips M, I5 and i6, and the laminated side frame ll, l2 and I3. As shown in Figs. foil strips 26 extend between nations of these end members, 'side frames and spacer strips. By using two metal sheets between adjacent laminations the necessary number of laminations is reduced accordingly. The intermediate laminated spacer or frame strips it, it, it may be made of wood or fiber board and may be located in the panel in such positions as to .divide the panel into halves. thirds, quarters or any desired number of sub-divisions usually depending upon the length of the panel. In the usual case a suflicient number of these intermediate strips are used to restrict each of the sub-divisions to an area of about 3 or 4 feet square. For this size surface area the number of crumpled metal foil sheets 24 that may be used without sagging, tearing or settling, is given below; the number of sheets of metal foil varying with the depth or thickness of the panel:

Thickness Number 'of sheets 1 inch v x 3 2 inches 5 3 inches 8 4 inches 10, etc. The above described wood or fiber board frame with a suitable number of'intermediate spacer strips and spaced metal foil sheets or other heat reflective sheets, is covered over its entire surface with a'reinforced paper or fiber 21. The principal purpose of this covering is to envelop the entire panel assembly and to bind it into a semirigid unit; also to provide a base for the reflective metal foil Jacket covering. This protective covering is preferably waterproof to retard seepage of water vapor. The structure of the panel is such that it permits air circulation within the panel which will tend to quickly evaporate any moisture condensation or water that may occur within the panel.

Covering the outside of this protective paper or fiber board sheet 21, is a non-porous jacket ofmetal foil 28. The metal foil jacket and the waterproof paper envelopeor fiber board sheet may be applied separately and individually or any pre-combined form. The purpose of the metal foil jacket 28 is threefold-namely, to reflect the major portion of the radiant heat incident upon the outer surface of the panel; to prevent passage of water in fluid or vapor form into the body of the insulation, and to create temperature'conditions within the air space which will minimize condensation of moisture on the boundaries thereof.

In Fig. 5 a typical type of the metal foil sheet for use in the panel is shown in uncrumpled form at 30 and in crumpled form at all. This crumpling may be efiected by slightly wrinkling the tions and surfaces of difierent elevations in the sheet. The principal purpose of this crumpling is to provide the air space and point contact bewithout strains or shearing of the material.

The fragmentary showing in Fig. 6 illustrates the single pin type of connection at the corner of the frame which lends itself to flexibility and permits distortion of the frame for the purposes described above.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the panel generally shown at 32 is similar to the mally caused by such stresses.

The panel 32 having The facing sheets 35 and 36 are m made of a paper, base sheet 38, shown in Fig. 8,

and an outer liner of heat reflective foil or the cient insulation unit or panel.

A convenient method for assembling the panel 4 shown in Figs. '7 and 8, is to provide a jig or box of substantially the desired dimensions of the panel and line this box with the combined foil and paper sheet which is to form'the cover sheet 36 of the panel. Next, the framing strips II, II and 13 are bat of insulation 33 is placed inside of these framing strips. Next, the top cover sheet 35 is placed over the bat of insulation 33 and the top edges of the sheet 36 are then folded down so as to overlap the margin of the sheet 35. Finally the pin connectors 20 are driven down through the several laminations of cover sheet andfram ing strips. The end of the nail 20 is then turned down against a washer as shown, to form a substantial yet flexible connection.

Another modified form of panel is shown in Fig. 9 and is similar to the panel of Figs. '7 and 8 except that in this case the mass insulation 33 extends between the on the outside thereof a mass of insulation which functions as a gasket or cushioning means when the panel is installed. By this arrangement the.

panel is self-gasketing and no separate gaskets such as shown at 23 in Fig. '7 need be used. As shown, the insulation 33 extends between the laminations 40 and 41 to form a relatively small mass of material 42. All of these elements are enclosed within the cover sheets 35 and 36 described above. Because of the reinforcements provided by the framing strips 40 and 4| which positively engage the insulating material 33 and help hold it in place, the material 33 may be of a substantially lighter density than that described above for Fig. 7 and need not have any adhesive binder. Also, if desired, the reflective cover sheets may be arranged directly around and in contact with indicated in Fig. 10.

- Another characteristic feature of the form of panel shown in Fig. 9 is the provision of spacer or furring strips 43 and 44. These strips are provided to take the place of furring strips which would otherwise be used in the walls of the car to be insulated. These strips simplify the installation problems since they can be made of the proper dimensions to space the panel automatically in the desired location. They may be-of the same general type and order of material used for the frame of the panel and as shown in Fig. 9 the strips 43 and 44 may framing members by the pins 20. These furring strips also assist in holding the frame together and in supporting the body of insulation which may be relatively light weight and not self-sustaining.

In Fig. there is illustrated a panel having a still different form of insulation. In this case the insulation comprises relatively thin preformed blankets of the mass material 33 which are enclosed in heat reflective envelopes 43 or placed within the liner and the be attached to the.'

- opposing wall.

, in connection with Fig.

framing strips and provides the body of insulation as as 4 have heat reflective surface sheets covering one or both sides of the blankets of insulation 33. These cover sheets 45 may be of the same type of cover sheet described above or may consist of only metal foil. As shown, the blankets extend between the laminations ii, 12 and i3 and provide cushioning bodies 46 which serve to self gasket the panel. A slight excess amount of cover sheet 45 is used as indicated by the generally wavy lines representing this material so that these cover sheets may give with the movements of the car without tearing. One or any desired greater number of blankets may be used in this form of panel.

In Fig. 11 is illustrated an application of my panel to a wall structure which comprises two sheathings 48 and 43 separated by studding members 50 and ii. The panel 41 is located between the two sheathings or walls 48 and 49 in spaced relationship. The proper location of the panel 41 in spacing members 43 and 44 described above in connection with Fig. 9. These members. as shown, space the panel 41 so as to provide dead air insulating spaces 52 and 53 on opposite sides of the panel betweenthe panel face and the This dead air space adds materially to the insulating eflect of the insulating material contained in the panel 41. The extensions of the panel shown at 54 and 55 illustrate the self-gasketing construction. described above 9 and insure a tight but resilient fit of the panel in the wall space.

It will be understood that other forms of materials than those described above byway of example may be used in the construction of the panel of this invention so long as these materials conform to the principles of the invention set forth-hereinabove. For example, the thin foil crumpled metal sheets 24 might be substituted by other suitable metal or non-metal sheets having heat reflective surfaces. Likewise the wood or flber board materials used for the panel frame may be substituted by any other suitable light weight material for meeting the requirements of this invention. Where the frame members are not used as separators for the insulating material such as shown in Figs. '7 and 8, they may be made of a single thickness of material instead of laminations.

-The term polygona as used in the claims herein is used in the generic sense to cover a frame having three or more sides which may be straight or curved. In the usual practice the frame will be in the form of a quadrilateral, although variations in the form of cut-off corners, additional short sides, or other deformations of the strickiy collateral structure may sometimes be required for fitting odd shaped spaces which are to be insulated.

Various other modifications occurring to those skilled in the art may also be made without departing from the scope of this invention. Some of the novel features of this invention are defined in the appended claim.

- What I claim is:

l. A preformed, unitary, relatively flexible heat insulating panel adapted for insulating the walls of refrigerated railroad cars comprising a laminated frame of lygonal form made of several superimposed elongated pieces of relatively light weight and low heat conductivity material, the sides of said frame being joined together only at their interconnecting corners by pivoting means that give this space is provided by the flexibility to the Joints and permit some distortion of the frame to relieve any stresses such as may be caused by movements of a railroad car, a plurality of crumpled sheets of heat reflective foil located within the frame and substantially coextensive with the length and width of said frame and held together only at their edges and at spaced intervals between contiguous laminations of said frame, at least two of said sheets of foil being held between contiguous laminations and the number of said laminations being no more than half the number of said foil sheets, said frame laminations supporting said sheets only along small areas but preventing sagging of the large unsupported areas of said sheets, said crumpled sheets having sufficient excess material to permit flexing and thereby relieve any stresses such as may be caused by weave or torque of a railroad car, without straining or shearing of said sheets and the crumpled formation of the sheets permitting touching each other only at pointllke contacts and providing between adjacent sheets insulating air spaces.

2. A heat insulating panel as defined in claim 1 in which the heat reflective foil sheets are made of crumpled aluminum foil.

3. A heat insulating panel as defined in claim 1 in which the panel is enclosed within a heat reflective sheet covering that restricts moisture condensation and tends to prevent transfer of heat into the panel and a compressible gasket is enclosed within said covering sheet adjacent the edges of the panel frame to insure a tight fit of the panel between framing members of a re;- frigerator car and to conform to normal weaving of a railroad car frame.

4. A preformed, unitary, relatively flexible heat insulating panel adapted for insulating the walls of refrigerated railroad cars, comprising a preformed bat of mass insulation covered with a heat reflective foil and a framework engaging the edge of said bat made up of relatively light- 6. A preformed, unitary, relatively flexible heat insulating panel adapted for insulating the walls of refrigerator railrod cars comprising a laminated frame of polygonal form made of sev eral superimposed elongated pieces of relatively light weight and low heat conductivity material, the sides of said frame being poined together only at their interconnecting corners by pivoting means that give flexibility to the joints and permit some distortion of the frame to relieve any stresses such as may be caused by movements of a railroad car, a plurality of sheets of heat-reflective foil located within the frame and substantially co-extensive with the length and width of said frame but having a surface area reater than the internal dimensions of said frame so that excess foil is present to permit the frame to move without tearing the foil, such foil layers being held only at their edges and at spaced intervals between contiguous laminations of said frame and at least two of said sheets of foil being held between contiguous laminations, said frame laminations supporting said sheets only along small areas but preventing sagging of the intermediate areas of said sheets.

7. A structure as specified in claim 6 in which mass insulation is enclosed between adjacent layers of the heat-reflective foil.

DONALD D. GRASSICK.

Patent? No. 2:512, 987

OERTIEIACATE OF commci'ron. 7 m n 2, 19h DomLn n. GRASSICK.

It is hereby certified 'tha flerrer ppe erein' {he 'p'rtinted e aecification b1 the above numbered patent 'reqdiring' cdrre'ct zion aa tpliov'vaz Page 5, aee- 0nd colmqz z 'linell, fer the word 'mee.ne" reed -masu;- ;'lndthat the said Letters Pgtent should beread vith 1bh1a (:oirecfiioh-fherein that the ae me' may co'nfom to the record or: the ease in the Patent Qffice.

" Signed and sealed this 6th'daj of April, A-. 1;. 1915.

, Henry Afednle (Seel) Acting comieeionerwof'letenta'." I 

